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Showing posts from December, 2022

MITELIA PAUL A goal scoring machine:

        Mitelia Paul (left) with fellow hockey star Bertha Fernandes, meeting in Sydney after more than 50 years. I started playing competitive hockey in 1959 in school and ended in 1968 in Kenya; I continued playing in Canada and the U.S.A. from 1968 to 1986 (I became a 24/7 work/sports mom; retiring from teaching (2015) after 50 years in an international teaching career - Kenya/Canada/U.S.A.) FIELD HOCKEY CAREER 1959 - 1968 -  Nairobi - School Level - Dr Ribeiro Goan School 1st IX ( Kenya Inter-school League/Tournaments ) played against" Kenya High School"," Loreto Msongari", "Loreto Valley Road", "St. Teresa's School", "Duchess of Gloucester School") Player/vice-captain/captain 1959 - 1968 - Kenya -  Club Level - "Ragtimers", "Railway Institute", "Goan Institute", "Caltex" -started at  age 13 - (player) 1959 - 1962 - Kenya 2nd IX - started at age 13 (player/vice-captain/captain) 1962 - 1968...

Memories of Kenya, what do you think?

Early pic of Muthaiga Club   An event in Uganda Nakuru Stags Head Hotel Early Nairobi Another view of Nairobi Removal of the King George statue Railway workshop in Nairobi Jamiya Mosque and the Macmillan Library Tusks in early Mombasa A very very early pic of the wonderful Oceanic Hotel in Mombasa Nairobi School  Lavington Nairobi Kisumu The East Africa campaign   Another day some where in Kenya Karen Government House Craigs motors Garden party in Mombasa Fairview Hotel Nairobi Demolition of the old Nairobi House Mystery lady A luxury safari camp Main market in Nairobi Just a little shamba work

John Noronha, in sport, music and life!

  JOHN NORONHA A keeper of memories Canadian visitors John and his wife Gladys with their Sydney host Myrtle Coutinho and that other chap at Circular Quay. OKAY on this particular occasion, being the Season of Christmas et al, I am treating myself to a little bit of bias. I only came to know John Noronha just a few years ago. However, during my years in East Africa, his name was often mentioned with some respect, not only for his tenure at Makerere University in Kampala but also as a budding musician and cricketer and a dabbler in hockey and all the other club sports that one tried one’s hand at least once or twice or more. Make no mistake, they did not say he was a sports star in the making but one of the guys. What they did not know until much later was that our Man from Makerere was a super sleuth. No not a spy but a seeker of truths, especially sports truths. As the years rolled by, he accumulated heaps and heaps of pages with notes of this game or that bout or the emergi...

JOHN GOMES: STRICT BUT A DEDICATED HEADMASTER

  JOHN GOMES: STRICT  BUT A DEDICATED HEADMASTER I HAVE BEEN MEANING TO SHARE THIS NATION MEDIA STORY FOR A WHILE Retired teacher John Gomes stands by a plaque at a dormitory at Gaichanjiru High School that is named after him. (Photos Nation Media)       By  Elvis Ondieki     Every head teacher worth his or her salt ordinarily has a catchy nickname given by students. Retired missionary teacher John Gomes taught at various schools in central Kenya between 1960 and 1992 and some of the nicknames he picked along the way are “Hitler”, “Ghost”, “Dad” and “Mwalimu”. Being the disciplinarian he was, many students have deemed the moniker “Hitler” befitting, as they drew parallels between Mr Gomes and the infamous German dictator. He would stealthily patrol dormitories at night and if he caught someone smoking, at lunchtime the next day he would take the student to the dining hall, sit him on a table, light a cigarette, then take the st...